You and Your Skin

With winter upon us, many people tend to suffer from dry and itchy skin. It is important to address this as quickly as possible and also prevent it from occurring.

Our skin is our largest organ. It actually makes up 1/6 of our total body weight. Skin keeps everything in our body safe, clean and protected. Our skin is made up of millions of skin cells and consists of 4 layers:

Stratum Corneum

Stratum Granulosum

Stratum Spinosum

Stratum Basale

Every square centimetre of skin contains about half a million cells that are constantly dying, sloughing away and being replaced. For normal, healthy skin, the cycle of skin cell maturation and renewal repeats about every 28 days.

When a disorder or environmental factor leads to our skin not functioning properly and becoming dry, irritated, and flaky, our overall health is put at risk.

DRY SKIN – Causes

Genetics

Aging

Cold, dry, windy air

Exposure to air conditioning, heaters, fires and fans

Excessive bathing and showering (keep under 5-10mins and not too hot)

Using toxic soaps, detergents and solvents

Lack of various vitamins

Dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis

DRY SKIN – Dietary Changes

Increase

Good fats such as olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, nuts and seeds, oily fish such as herring, mackerel, sardines etc